Tech: How to migrate WhatsApp from iPhone to Android Samsung

October 01, 2017

So I just got a new Samsung Note 8 two days ago because I was sick of being an Apple prisoner. I was also swayed by a camera comparison video that I saw Supersaf do between the iPhone X (which was what I was waiting for) and the Note 8 which I saw had two 12mp cameras as well. Camera and video/photo function being my primary reason for choosing a phone (though my iPhone's Bluetooth and WiFi chip being half-spoilt is also a push factor).

My biggest worry when I was making the jump was the migration of data. How can I transfer my WhatsApp from my iPhone 6 over to my new Samsung Note 8 without spending a week figuring it out???

Everything else was simple. Contacts was backed on Google Drive, I was already using Google Calender and I backup all my iPhone photos regularly to my hard drive (no i dont believe in using the cloud). Music could be a bitch (though again you can retrieve from local drive) but i have long switched to streaming or downloaded music via my Spotify Premium. There's also a Samsung Smart Switch service (plug iphone cable to Samsung phone via an adapter) for all the above to be seamlessly transferred, including SMSes. All in all pain level 1/10.

However, what was really painful was WhatsApp. If you refuse to start from a blank slate, there is simply no way to transfer your chat history and media from iPhone to Samung natively because the backup on iPhone goes on iCloud or your iTunes (PC or Mac) but on Samsung/Android WhatsApp retrieves ONLY from Google Drive or locally. Pain level 10/10.

After much Googling and many dead ends to dodgy expensive software (that does not work or have bad reviews or look like a virus cesspool) I have come to the conclusion and acceptance that I have to pay a small fee of $4.49 S$7.99 to do the migration successfully via an app called the Wazzap Migrator. I was convinced it is legit also because the support level is really high by the creator of the app and the site doesn't look like a scam! Reviews on Google Play Store validated it too.

So to save my friends and everyone the pain I have experienced, here's the process I went through step by step and my how to guide to transfer WhatsApp chat history and media to Android from iPhone using a Mac:

1. Backup your iPhone locally (not encrypted) on your PC/Mac via iTunes. This is rather important. I couldn't figure out how to extract the backup via iCloud so you need a computer for this.

2. For Mac/Windows users, download this iExplorer on your computer to extract the chat history and media files of the backup file on your com, following the instructions here. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you find the right files, looking at the screenshots in that link. You are to extract both the chat history file and the Media folder (which can be quite large).

4. Download the free Android File Transfer software on you Mac to allow browsing and transfer of files between your Mac computer and Android. For Windows I think you might not require additional software.

3. Connect your Android to the computer via the USB-C and place the files you have downloaded from your iTunes backup extract to the Wazzap Migrator folder in your phone via the Android File Transfer app. Example here.

4. Install WhatsApp on your phone but do not open it or it will lock the chats from your iPhone after asking you to insert OTP via your phone number on your new phone.

5. Fire up the Wazzap Migrator app and it will show the iPhone archive if you have placed it in correctly. Press the play button. It will start to process the messages and could take some time (it does not run in background, just leave it plugged in and do your stuff. Make sure you have enough space).

6. The app will notify you when done. Disable Google Drive backup of WhatsApp if you have used an Android before your iPhone or WhatsApp will ask to restore from GDrive instead of local. I stumbled over this step. Refer to this link for more.

7. Download and sign in to WhatsApp by authenticating your phone number. WhatsApp should notify you of the local backup found and ask for permission to restore. Start restoring.

8. You might see all your chatgroups first with unread messages when you first go into the restored WhatsApp. That's ok, just exit groups or archive them! Rest should all be there! Yay! You can uninstall the Wazzap Migrator and go to Storage to clear unwanted files now to save space.

So there you go! I hope this is a clear enough guide. $8 is definitely a small price to pay for all your chat history to move with you. Even though I realised what if you want to transfer your WhatsApp history from Android to iPhone? Then how??? Haha the answer is don't....

P:S: Please don't ask me to help you troubleshoot ok. I can't help beyond my own experience... buy the app and then ask the owner of Wazzap!

PPS: Share this article if you think it might help others who are in the same boat!

Alexis this article just saved my life. I was so bummed out at the thought of losing years of chat history just to be free my iphone shackles! You are right, $4.99 is not a terrible cost for freedom. I will try this method now and update with my results...fingers crossed!

hi Alexis, you could make a minor update to your post to feature this link instead: https://www.wazzapmigrator.com/iexplorer-tutorial for iExplorer. The iBackup Viewer is no longer able to perform the steps with the free version. It requires an upgrade to Pro in order to extract the required files.

Thanks Alexis, this is helpful and comprehensive. I followed it and successfully migrated from iphone to android. 2 tips for other folks who are trying:- Note that in the Itunes backup, there are actually 2 "media" folders. I chose the wrong one initially and spent half a day troubleshooting it. - Also, the export of the itunes backup folders can take about an hour, so don't mistaken it with system hang. cos there's no progress bar on the iExplorer software. Cheers!

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I'm Alexis Cheong - A Singapore food and lifestyle blogger. Passionate about good food, travel and beauty or gadgets. This blog is a place where I want to share all the things I love with over 17,700 views per month. Feel free to contact me to say hello or find out how we can collaborate.